Children and Young Persons Act 1993 - Singapore Statutes Online

When child or young person in need of care or protection

5.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, a child or young person is in need of care or protection if —

(a)

the child or young person has no parent or guardian;

(b)

the child or young person has been abandoned by his or her parent or guardian and despite reasonable inquiries the parent or guardian cannot be found, and no other suitable person is willing and able to exercise care or guardianship in respect of the child or young person;

(c)

the parent or guardian of the child or young person —

(i)	is unable or has neglected to provide adequate food, clothing, medical aid, lodging, care or other necessities of life for the child or young person; or
(ii)	is unfit or unable or has neglected to exercise proper supervision and control over the child or young person, and the child or young person is falling into bad association, or is exposed to moral danger, or is beyond control;

(d)

the child or young person has been, is being or is at risk of being ill‑treated —

(i)	by his or her parent or guardian; or
(ii)	by any other person, and his or her parent or guardian, although knowing of such ill‑treatment or risk, has not protected or is unlikely or unwilling to protect the child or young person from such ill‑treatment;

(e)

the child or young person needs to be examined, investigated or treated for the purpose of restoring or preserving his or her health or development and his or her parent or guardian neglects or refuses to have him or her so examined, investigated or treated;

(f)

the child or young person behaves in a manner that is, or is likely to be, harmful to himself or herself or to any person and —

(i)	his or her parent or guardian is unable or unwilling to take necessary measures to remedy the situation; or
(ii)	the remedial measures taken by the parent or guardian fail;

(g)

the child or young person suffers or is likely to suffer from emotional harm because the child or young person has been or is subject to emotional or psychological abuse by his or her parent or guardian;

(h)

the child or young person —

(i)	is a person in respect of whom a relevant offence has been or is believed to have been committed; or
(ii)	is a member of the same household as another child or young person in respect of whom a relevant offence has been or is believed to have been committed, and the child or young person appears to be in danger of a similar offence being committed against him or her,

and either the person who committed or is believed to have committed the offence or who has been convicted of the offence is the parent or guardian of the child or young person or a member of the same household as the child or young person, or the parent or guardian of the child or young person is unable, unlikely or unwilling to protect the child or young person from such offence; or

(i)

the child or young person is found to be —

(i)	destitute or wandering without any settled place of abode and without visible means of subsistence;
(ii)	begging or receiving alms (whether or not there is any pretence of singing, playing, performing or offering anything for sale) or loitering for the purpose of so begging or receiving alms;
(iii)	engaged in carrying out illegal lotteries, illegal hawking, gambling or other undesirable activities; or
(iv)	using or inhaling any intoxicating substance (as defined in the Intoxicating Substances Act 1987) for the purpose of inducing or causing in himself or herself a state of intoxication. [3/2011; 30/2019]

(2) Without limiting subsection (1)(g), the circumstances in which a child or young person may be regarded as being subject to emotional or psychological abuse by his or her parent or guardian under that subsection include any of the following:

(a)

the parent or guardian subjects the child or young person to persistent acts of rejection or degradation that are harmful to the child’s or young person’s wellbeing or sense of self‑worth;

(b)

the parent or guardian threatens to physically hurt, kill or abandon the child or young person, or places the child or young person or a related person of the child or young person in any dangerous situation;

(c)

the parent or guardian isolates the child or young person by consistently denying opportunities for the child or young person to communicate with any person;

(d)

the parent or guardian confines the child or young person in any small space for the purpose of disciplining the child or young person;

(e)

the parent or guardian influences the child or young person to develop self‑destructive, anti‑social, criminal, deviant or other maladaptive behaviour;

Illustrations

(a)	The parent or guardian models, permits or encourages anti‑social behaviour such as prostitution, performance in pornographic media, initiation of criminal activities, substance abuse or committing violence to any person.

(b)	The parent or guardian models, permits or encourages developmentally inappropriate behaviour by infantilising the child or young person.

(c)	The parent or guardian models, permits or encourages any other behaviour that would result in the exploitation or corruption of the child or young person.

(f)

the parent or guardian exposes the child or young person to, or places the child or young person at any risk of exposure to, any violence against a related person of the child or young person.

[30/2019]

(3) In this section, “related person”, in relation to a child or young person, means another person about whose safety or wellbeing the child or young person would reasonably be expected to be seriously concerned.

[30/2019]

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